Rolling Girl
by Finny Is Dapper
Summary: Piper Song had an ideal life...until four years ago when her mother passed away. It's up to Kaoru to save her from the pits of depression. Can he save her in time? /Kaoru x FC; Angst; Self-harm; Trigger-warning
1. Chapter 1

**Rolling Girl**

**_Ouran High School Host Club_**

_Chapter One_

_Dear Diary,_

_ I was a disappointment again today. It seems I've been that a lot lately…I can't help it, I guess. I was born a disappointment. Likely, I'll die a disappointment. I disappoint my father…my boyfriend…Aika…and my late mother. It's really been four years since she died. It feels like only yesterday. I'm used to it, but I don't think father is. He yells at me a lot since she died. Maybe he just hates me. Demi is his princess…I've become like an unwanted step-child to my blood father. Maybe I can score some brownie points with him at the violin recital. If not…I'll just summon the red water. _

_ He's yelling at me again. I'll write later. _

_-Piper Song_

Piper closed her journal and rested her pencil beside it. She looked at the door to her bedroom, wondering if she really should leave and deal with Daddie-dearest. She sighed and stood up. It would be far worse if she made him wait. She walked over to her bedroom door. She slowly turned the knob and opened it. It was time to face her fate…

Piper sat down in her desk at school the next day. She folded her arms on her desk and rested her head in her arms. She had barely slept last night. Her father's "lecture" had disrupted her sleep. All night she closed her eyes, but the sleep wouldn't come. She couldn't escape what was said and done.

Piper's eyes were trying to close. Perhaps a nap wouldn't be a bad idea. It wouldn't affect her grads too much. Sleep is proven to help performance at school, not hinder it! She slowly let her eyes blink…once…twice. They were about to shut for good until…

"Hey, sleepyhead. How are you today?" Kaoru asked in front of her desk. He kneeled down to look at her at eye level. She lifted her head and stared at him.

"As good as I can be…I'm just tired. I had a hell of a night," Piper muttered.

"Oh? What happened?" Kaoru asked, concerned.

"I was up late rehearsing the violin," Piper lied, "I do have that recital coming up."

"When is the recital? I wanna watch!" Aika, Piper's best friend, asked as she walked into the conversation.

"It's in three days," Piper answered.

"Aren't you nervous?" Kaoru asked. Piper shook her head.

"Nope. I'm a virtuoso," she replied. Aika gave Piper a confused look.

"Vir…tu…ous?" she murmured.

"Stop trying to be smart Aika," Hikaru joked behind her. She turned around and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Shut up! I'm smarter than you!" Aika retorted.

"That's not what your test scores say," Piper pointed out. Aika blushed.

"Ah! I'd crawl under the rug if I had one!" she whined. Hikaru pulled her into a hug.

"Eh. Just hide your face in my chest. It's better than a dirty old rug any day," he suggested. Aika punched him lightly.

"Hikaru, you're an ass," she bit back. The duo sat in their seats. Kaoru chuckled.

"The teacher will be here any minute. We can talk during break," Kaoru told Piper. He kissed her on the forehead before sitting taking his seat next to her. Her lips cracked into a slight smile. School was a nice getaway for her. In class, no one yelled at her. No one picked at her. She felt safe.

Aika looked over to Piper. The two were best friends. They bonded over a shared love of music. They had known each other for years. However, Aika noticed Piper had been changing. It was slow, but noticeable. Ever since the sudden death of her mother, Piper had been distant. Angry. She had isolated herself from the world.

She had noticed her Korean friend becoming slowly happier since dating Kaoru Hitachiin. Aika didn't mind. She got her _darling _Hikaru out of the mix, and Piper was cheering up. But something was still wrong. Aika got a concerned look on her face as she examined Piper's behavior.

She'd been scratching her arms a lot over the past year. Aika would have just passed it off as a rash from stress or something of the sort had it not been for other factors. Factors that scared the living daylight out of Aika.

Piper used to wear sleeveless dresses. Around the time her arms started to get itchy, she never let herself be caught dead without sleeves. There was also a time when a razor blade fell out of Piper's bag. Aika may have been dumb, but she wasn't stupid. She could put two and two together.

All of the evidence added up. Aika knew what was going on.

And she didn't like it one bit.


	2. Chapter 2

_Dear Diary,_

_The violin recital is in two hours. I hope I do well. I'm usually confident, but my gut is telling me something sketchy is going on. I don't know what to do. My father will yell at me if I don't go, but I don't want to do anything too risky. I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? I'm going to do my best. Time to be confident. _

_-Piper Song_

Piper closed her notebook like normal. She went to her wardrobe to pick out an outfit for the occasion. She sifted through various dresses, but wasn't making any progress. Some were too casual; others were too dressy. She needed it to look just right. Piper smiled, pulling out a dress she had forgotten about.

It seemed to be a typical long red jacket. White bows adorned the bottom of the fabric. Piper put a ruffled skirt on underneath, causing the jacket to flare out to resemble more of a poofy dress. She put on a pair of lace adorned stockings and black high-heeled boots. She put a big gray bow around her neck and clipped a red bow into her hair. She was satisfied with her appearance.

With newfound confidence, Piper grabbed her violin case and left her room. She was well on her way to the recital with plans to give the audience the best show they could possibly watch.

Piper waited patiently in the greenroom. It was about fifteen minutes until she was expected to perform. She never usually got jealous. After all, she'd been playing the violin practically before she could walk. Screwing up was not even a possibility. However, she knew something was wrong—terribly wrong. She slowly sipped water to ease the feeling.

Piper closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. She was simply overthinking this thing. Nothing out of the ordinary would happen. Everything would be fine. She would play her piece. Everyone would stand up and clap. She'd receive a standing ovation. The same thing had been happening for years. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Piper head a knock on the greenroom door. She opened her eyes and turned her head toward it. The door slowly opened as Kaoru walked in. He was dressed in a casual tuxedo. In his hands was a beautiful bouquet of roses. He smiled at her and walked over. Piper was surprised. She wasn't expecting him to pop in. She was glad he did, though. It gave her a sense of comfort.

"You're supposed to give me flowers after I perform, silly," Piper noted. Kaoru chuckled.

"That's too average. I figured I'd give them to you now. I hope you like them! They even match your outfit, which is a total coincidence," Kaoru replied.

"Indeed they do…thank you," Piper murmured, accepting the gift. Kaoru walked closer and kissed her on the cheek.

"Might I add that you look lovely tonight?" Kaoru said. Piper blushed and looked away. She tried to hide her face behind the bouquet.

"I'm flattered," Piper muttered. Kaoru laughed. He turned around.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be going on at any minute. I'm going to go take my seat. I made Aika and Hikaru save it for me," he explained.

"I wouldn't trust it in their hands. Go grab it quick!" Piper urged. Kaoru quickly left the room, waving her good-bye. Piper was happy. She sniffed her flowers and giggled.

Piper gently placed the bouquet in her bag. She glanced at the clock. It was time. She grabbed her violin case, her sheet music, and her stand. Once everything was in order, she headed to the auditorium stage. Several thoughts filled her head on the way there. She fantasized about performing well. She feared failing miserably. She worried about only doing okay. Every second a new thought crossed her mind. With every step, another wonder came.

As Piper finally opened the door that led to the stage, her brain yelled "stop." Magically, her mind was clear. She marched backstage as the person before her was finishing up. After the other person left, Piper waltzed right over to the chair on stage. She set her stand up and got into proper violin-playing position. She looked to the audience as she slated her name.

"Hello. I'm Piper Song, and today I'll be performing a piece called 'Another Brick in the Wall Part Two.' The song is originally by Pink Floyd," she introduced.

Like clockwork, Piper began playing. She started off with a slow tempo for the very beginning note. She dragged it on and paused to build suspense. Where the lyrics would normally begin, she began blazing through the song with intensity. She smiled as the tempo hypnotized her. Muscle memory took over.

Piper zipped through the first verse and chorus. She played every note spot on. She could feel the audience's excitement for the melody. She flew through the second verse and went to the chorus once more. She played until…

**SNAP!**

A string suddenly broke. Piper snapped out of her trance. She stared in horror at the string, now dangling off her violin. Her vision panned to the audience. Everyone was staring at her. She didn't know what to do. A child in the audience stood up on his seat and glared at her.

"You suck!" he yelled. A fuse detonated. Suddenly, almost everyone in the audience started shouting at her. They booed and jeered. Piper looked in the front row at Aika, Hikaru, and Kaoru. Aika was trying to attack people with Hikaru holding her back. Kaoru just stared at her, not quite sure what to think. Piper panicked. She dropped her violin in front of her, jumped up, and ran off stage.

Piper rushed as fast as she could to the greenroom. She would have left the building and called a cab, but she didn't want to leave her bag and flowers behind. She quickly barged into the room. Sitting in the middle of the room, though, was her father. The older Korean man sat with his arms crossed. He glared at Piper as she walked in.

"Father…" she muttered, walking to her stuff. Her father looked at her disapprovingly. He stood up and walked over to Piper. She quickly grabbed her bag and took a step back from him. She stared in horror. Her father had never looked so angry…so disappointed…

**So…threatening.**

"Piper. I've never been so ashamed of you before in my life…you have brought embarrassment to the family name. As if it wasn't bad enough you broke that string, you disgraced your violin and our ears by turning that…that…_pornography_ into a violin piece! You hardly deserve to be called my daughter," her father lectured.

Before Piper could react, he slapped her across the face three times. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at him. Piper quickly ran away, trying not to let anyone see her cry.

Piper sat at her vanity in her room. The lights were off, leaving it almost pitch black. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She was hurt. She didn't know what had hurt more…her father's words…or the three slaps to the face. She'd heard the words before…but never had he struck her. Piper sobbed a few times.

She felt around her desk for her lighter. She grabbed it and lit two candles on either side of the table. The small flames were enough to illuminate her surroundings. Piper grabbed a blade that was sitting on her desk. She rolled her sleeve as far up as she could, revealing cuts and some scars. Piper held the blade against her skin to make some fresh cuts when Kaoru popped into her room from the window.

Piper whipped her head around to see him. She quickly pushed her sleeve down. She fumbled around with the blade, cutting her hand by accident. She hid it and looked at him. Kaoru walked over with a smile on his face, though it faded. He saw the blood dripping from her hand.

"I came here to see if you're okay…but I see you aren't. What's wrong with your hand?" he asked. Piper panicked.

"Um…it's a paper cut…" she lied. Kaoru grabbed her hand and examined it.

"It's deep! That's not a paper cut! We should get you to a doctor!" he yelled. Piper shook her head.

"That won't be necessary! I'll wrap it up!" Piper quickly yelled.

"But what if it gets infected? That would be bad!" he emphasized, grabbing her arm to drag her to a doctor. Piper winced and tried to pull it back. Her sleeve found itself rolling up from the constant movement. Piper gasped. Unless Kaoru was blind, he definitely saw them. They were like bright red flags. Kaoru stared at them. He rolled her sleeve upward a bit, revealing more. Piper violently whipped her arm away.

"You're not supposed to see those!" Piper cried out. Kaoru stared at her, mouth open in shock. He had a feeling she cut herself, but he gave her the benefit of the doubt. He wasn't sure what to do. He bit his lip and looked in her eyes.

"What were those?" he calmly asked.

"A cat attacked me," Piper lied. Kaoru shook his head.

"Those were really deep, though…" he pointed out.

"It was a cat! I swear it was a cat!" Piper continued to lie. Kaoru backed up toward the window.

"I need to go…it's late…" he muttered, leaving her room. Piper watched teary-eyed as he left. When he left she broke down crying more than before. She turned back around to her vanity. She grabbed the blade to continue what Kaoru had interrupted her from doing.


End file.
